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Performer starred opposite Dirk Bogarde in Victim as well as playing the mother of Helen Mirren’s monarch in The Queen

Sylvia Syms, the versatile British actor who appeared in a string of films including Ice Cold in Alex, Expresso Bongo, The Tamarind Seed and The Queen, has died aged 89.

According to a statement given to Pa by her family, Syms “died peacefully” on Friday at Denville Hall, a care home in London for those in the entertainment industry. Her children, Beatie and Ben Edney, said: “Our mother, Sylvia, died peacefully this morning. She has lived an amazing life and gave us joy and laughter right up to the end. Just yesterday we were reminiscing together about all our adventures. She will be so very missed.”...

Sylvia Syms, the British actress whose body of work stretched back to the 1950s and included roles in Ice Cold in Alex, Victim and The Queen, has died. She was 89.

In a statement to Sky News, her family said she “died peacefully” on Jan. 27 at a London care home for those in the entertainment industry.

“She has lived an amazing life, and gave us joy and laughter right up to the end,” they said. “Just yesterday, we were reminiscing together about all our adventures. She will be so very missed.”

Born in London in 1934, Syms attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and became an almost instant star in her 20s, thanks to major roles in films such as WWII drama and 1958 Berlinale winner Ice Cold in Alex (alongside John Mills, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews), English Civil War drama The Moonraker and Expresso Bongo with Cliff Richard.

In 1961, she...

English actress Sylvia Syms has passed away in the UK aged 89, according to her family.

Syms was best known for roles in movies including Ice Cold Alex, Victim, The Tamarind Seed and Stephen Frears’ The Queen, in which she played The Queen Mother.

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Syms passed away this morning at Denville Hall, a care home in London for those in the entertainment industry. In a statement shared with The Sun, Syms’ family said: “She has lived an amazing life and gave us joy and laughter right up to the end. Just yesterday we were reminiscing together about all our adventures. She will be so very missed.

“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Denville Hall for...

Sylvia Syms, best known for her leading role in Ice Cold in Alex, has died aged 89.

The British actor “died peacefully” early on Friday (27 January) morning at Denville Hall, a London care home for those in the entertainment industry, her children shared in a statement.

“Our mother, Sylvia, died peacefully this morning. She has lived an amazing life and gave us joy and laughter right up to the end,” Beatie and Ben Edney said.

“Just yesterday we were reminiscing together about all our adventures. She will be so very missed.”

They added: “We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Denville Hall for the truly excellent care they have taken of our Mum over the past year.”

Born in Woolwich, London in 1934 to Daisy and Edwin Syms, Syms was raised in Well Hall, Elthan.

She studied at prestigious drama school Rada before gaining her first on-screen...

British actor Sylvia Syms, best known for her roles in “Ice Cold in Alex” and “Victim,” died Friday in London. She was 89.

Syms’ family said that she died at Denville Hall, a care home in London for entertainment industry people.

“Our mother, Sylvia, died peacefully this morning. She has lived an amazing life and gave us joy and laughter right up to the end. Just yesterday we were reminiscing together about all our adventures. She will be so very missed,” Syms’ children, Beatie and Ben Edney, said in a statement. “We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Denville Hall for the truly excellent care they have taken of our Mum over the past year.”

Syms was educated at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In the first phase of her storied career, Syms had significant roles in British war classic “Ice Cold in Alex...

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By Todd Garbarini

I have long considered Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation to be his greatest film. The story of a tortured sound recordist, Harry Caul (Gene Hackman in arguably his greatest screen performance), a man who is disturbed by the morality and ethics of his profession. He is secretly recording private citizens in exchange for payment from companies with a vested interest in doing so and whose actions have resulted in several deaths. The film was a long gestating project that came about during a 1967 discussion the director had with fellow director Irvin Kirshner about wiretapping and privacy intrusion. Following the instant success of the release of The Godfather in March 1972, Mr. Coppola was only given the green light to make The Conversation for Paramount Pictures after they begged him to direct The Godfather Part II. One month after the public announcement was made about Mr.

Nathaniel R giving you the heads up on what's available to you now to screen at home.

New on DVD/Blu-Ray/Rental

• Aftermath Keira Knightley falls for the ever possibly evil and problematic Alexander Skarsgård (it happens to all of us) in this WWII infidelity drama

• Dumbo -not one of Tim Burton's finest but at least the production design is top notch, giving us plenty to look at. Thank you Rick Heinrichs, you're ever dependable.

• The Russian Five - Our documentary guru Glenn highly recommends this sports doc about Russian hockey players

Also out today: Jesse Eisenberg in The Hummingbird Project, the Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif movie The Tamarind Seed. and a Vietnamese action film called Furie. itunes deals and new to streaming after the jump...

Switzerland's Locarno Film Festival will pay homage to U.S. director Blake Edwards with a career retrospective at its 72nd edition this summer.

The retrospective is the first announcement from new Locarno artistic director Lili Hinstin, who has taken over from outgoing director Carlo Chatrian this year.

Edwards, winner of a career Academy Award, is best known for directing Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Party, the Pink Panther franchise, Days of Wine and Roses, The Tamarind Seed, 10 and Victor Victoria, among numerous other critical and box office hits. His 37 films, over a career running from 1955 to 1993, will be ...

Switzerland's Locarno Film Festival will pay homage to U.S. director Blake Edwards with a career retrospective at its 72nd edition this summer.

The retrospective is the first announcement from new Locarno artistic director Lili Hinstin, who has taken over from outgoing director Carlo Chatrian this year.

Edwards, winner of a career Academy Award, is best known for directing Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Party, the Pink Panther franchise, Days of Wine and Roses, The Tamarind Seed, 10 and Victor Victoria, among numerous other critical and box office hits. His 37 films, over a career running from 1955 to 1993, will be ...

Omar Sharif in 'Doctor Zhivago.' Egyptian star Omar Sharif, 'The Karate Kid' producer Jerry Weintraub: Brief career recaps A little late in the game – and following the longish Theodore Bikel article posted yesterday – below are brief career recaps of a couple of film veterans who died in July 2015: actor Omar Sharif and producer Jerry Weintraub. A follow-up post will offer an overview of the career of peplum (sword-and-sandal movie) actor Jacques Sernas, whose passing earlier this month has been all but ignored by the myopic English-language media. Omar Sharif: Film career beginnings in North Africa The death of Egyptian film actor Omar Sharif at age 83 following a heart attack on July 10 would have been ignored by the English-language media (especially in the U.S.) as well had Sharif remained a star within the Arabic-speaking world. After all, an "international" star is only worth remembering...

Actor best known for roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago.

Actor Omar Sharif has died aged 83. The Egypt-born actor, who had stepped away from acting since being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, died following a heart attack this afternoon in a hospital in Cairo.

Sharif won two Golden Globes and an Oscar nomination for his role as Sherif Ali in David Lean’s 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia.

He won a further Golden Globe three years later for Doctor Zhivago.

Sharif was born Michel Demetri Chalhoub in Alexandria on April 10, 1932, and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Sharif began his acting career in 1953 with a role in romantic drama Sira` Fi al-Wadi before appearing in more than 20 Egyptian productions, including Ayyamna el helwa with singer Abdel Halim Hafez, La anam (1958), Sayedat el kasr (1959) and Anna Karenina adaptation Nahr el hub (1961). He also starred with his wife, Egyptian actress...

Omar Sharif

Omar Sharif, star of such legendary films as Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, has died at the age of 83.

The actor, who made a memorable Captain Nemo in Mysterious Island and also appeared in films like Funny Girl, The Tamarind Seed and The 13th Warrior, continued to work until 2013. He was a real all-rounder, as passionate about sport as he was about theatre and film, with a degree in maths and physics, impressive carpentry skills, and a reputation as one of the world's best bridge players. An international heart-throb in his youth, he went on to play fatherly and grandfatherly roles, ageing gracefully and never losing his loyal fans. Though he sometimes publicly lost his temper, once even striking a fan, he is remembered by his fellow actors for his charm and kindness, and for his joie de vivre. "I want to live every moment...

Dynasty actress Kate O’Mara died on Sunday at a southern England nursing home. She was 74.

Kate O'Mara Dies

Mara passed away following a brief illness, according to her agent, Phil Belfield, reported Variety.

After falling ill earlier this month, O’Mara had tweeted a thank you message to her followers that were concerned over her health.

Hello all - thank you so much for your kind tweets. It's both humbling and completely overwhelming to read all of your messages. Much Love x

— Kate O'Mara (@KateOmara_) March 17, 2014

During the 80s, O’Mara, in one of her best-known roles, starred in Dynasty as Cassandra “Caress” Morell. Caress was the sister of Joan Collins’ character Alexis Colby. The popular show, which won five Golden Globes during its nine seasons, also starred John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Gordon Thomson.

Upon learning of O’Mara’s death, Collin’s took to Twitter to express...

Home entertainment agreement will see Shout! Factory distribute ITV Studios Global Entertainment films in North America.

North American distributor Shout! Factory and UK distributor ITV Studios Global Entertainment (Itvs Ge) have secured a deal to partner on home entertainment and digital distribution.

The agreement will see an extensive library of acclaimed cinema classics back to the home entertainment marketplace in the Us and Canada.

Titles include Sophie’s Choice; On Golden Pond; The Eagle Has Landed; The Last Unicorn; The Tamarind Seed; Capricorn One; The Cassandra Crossing; Brief Encounter; Saturn 3; The Merchant of Venice; Voyage of the Damned and The Boys from Brazil.

Some of these titles have never been available on Blu-ray or DVD. In addition, bonus content is currently in development by Shout! Factory for special editions and double features.

When the news of Blake Edwards’ passing at age 88 broke earlier this month, it stood to reason his obituaries would mandatorily lead off identifying him as the writer/director behind the “Pink Panther” movies and as a “master of sophisticated slapstick comedy.” After all, the “Panther” films may not have been his best work, but, in a career marked by as many flops as hits, they were his most recognized and consistently popular efforts with six films spanning 20 years (excluding 1993’s execrable post-Peter Sellers Son of the Pink Panther).

In the longer obits, it was nice to see his more sophisticated work also remembered like romantic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), another iconic rom-com for another decade in 10 (1979), his 2/3 brilliant and 100% brutal skewering of Hollywood in S.O.B. (1981), and an early turn at drama with Days of Wine and Roses (1962), still one of the most disturbing portraits of alcoholism in a studio film.

Mrs & Mrs Blake Edwards (1974)Our heart goes out to the divine Julie Andrews in what is surely a difficult time as her husband the writer/director Blake Edwards passed away a few days ago. We apologize for the delay in honoring him. Edwards was long beloved and praised for his comic sensibilities as a writer and director, most famously within The Pink Panther series starring Peter Sellers.

What was less often noted is that he was often responsible for shining a flattering light on actresses, no matter your feelings about him getting Julie out of her clothing. His late career efforts in this realm (Ellen Barkin in Switch and Kim Basinger in Blind Date) weren't as magical as his earlier work but he had a hand in big moments in the careers of Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn and was absolutely crucial to Julie Andrews career.

Blake and Natalie Wood...

Chicago – If you love movies, you love Blake Edwards. The iconic comic director, best known for teaming with Peter Sellers in a series of wacky Pink Panther adventures, also directed such classics as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “The Great Race” “10” and “Victor Victoria.” Blake Edwards died Wednesday at age 88.

Born William Blake Crump in 1922 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Edwards began his career as a writer/director in Hollywood’s “Silver Age” in the 1950’s, after a stint as an actor in the 1940’s, mostly playing uncredited military types in such films as “They were Expendable” and “The Best Years of Our Lives.” He began in radio, writing the popular “Richard Diamond” series, and moved on to television with Diamond star Dick Powell with “Four Star Playhouse.”

Peter Sellers (left) and Blake Edwards (right) trying out a gag during their memorable collaboration

Photo credit: BFI

Edwards went...

Film director best known for the Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's and 10

The film-maker Blake Edwards, who has died aged 88, will be best remembered as the creator of the Pink Panther films, and as the husband of the entertainer Julie Andrews. But Edwards was a third-generation show-business figure whose complex and controversial career spanned more than 50 years, initially as an actor and writer and subsequently as one of America's most prolific producer-directors, primarily concerned with the popular genres of comedy and musicals and with creating television series.

Despite working in mainstream cinema, his maverick spirit and ego made him an uneasy partner with Hollywood studios. He famously savaged the hand that had fed him so well with S.O.B. (1981), a raucous, vitriolic attack on Tinseltown. His sophisticated work drew strongly on his love of early cinema (his stepgrandfather had directed silent films), and on his own life and psychological problems (he...

Blake Edwards, 88, has died in Southern California according to the BBC. Just like his peer Leslie Nielsen recently, it was pneumonia that did it.

His filmography is legendary. He directed film stars Tony Curtis in Mister Cory, Cary Grant in Operation Petticoat, Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s before later becoming a genius comedy director who specialised in slapstick better than anyone else. His collaborations with Peter Sellers were the high points of that stage of his career with The Pink Panther films, of which he directed an amazing eight of them (some good, some so-so).

He also made three notable films with his wife of 41 years, Julie Andrews, in the films The Tamarind Seed (1974), S.O.B. (1981) and Victor/Victoria (1982). He was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2004.

More to come later…...

Actor-turned-director found fame with romantic classic but carved out a niche in comedy, particularly his collaborations with Peter Sellers, and with his wife, Julie Andrews

Blake Edwards, the director of Breakfast at Tiffany's, 10 and eight Pink Panther movies, has died aged 88. One of Hollywood's most successful specialists in comedy, Edwards never won an Academy award for any of his films, but was given an honorary Oscar in 2004 citing "his writing, directing and producing an extraordinary body of work for the screen." He married Julie Andrews in 1969 and directed her in a strings of films – most notably The Tamarind Seed (1974), S.O.B. (1981) and Victor/Victoria (1982).

Edwards was born in Tulsa in 1922 and started off as an actor, appearing in around 30 films between 1942 and 1948. He moved into scriptwriting, starting with the westerns Panhandle and Stampede, and then started directing in the mid-50s, honing his skills across a variety of genres. His aptitude...

The 2003 AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival will honor Omar Sharif in its annual AFI Fest Tribute on Nov. 11 at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. The tribute, made possible through a collaborative partnership with the Skirball Cultural Center, will feature film clips, anecdotes and an onstage conversation with Sharif. The tribute also will include the Nov. 10 U.S. premiere of Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran from French director Francois Dupeyron as well as a four-film Sharif retrospective to screen Nov. 12-13. During the course of a career that has spanned more than 50 years, Sharif has appeared in more than 70 films, including such classics as Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, Funny Girl and The Tamarind Seed.